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Blackheart Privateers
The Blackheart Privateers, or simply Blackhearts, is the name of Morgan's massive underground criminal organization, possibly covering all of Tamriel due to being found in the Second Era. Like with the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, they are arguably well-trained, determined, and extremely dangerous. They are also known for their services regarding bounty hunting (and in rare cases assassination.) According to Morgan, the Blackhearts have grown massively in number since the end of Darius Septim's campaign to return the Septim Dynasty, but still continue to operate in a small number to keep a low profile from other underworld organizations and general society itself. Requirements Similar to the Dark Brotherhood, initiates must display the ability to kill any target mercilessly, without regret or sorrow. They were also required to abandon morals and perform questionable actions, regardless of how immoral they were. As such, they were required to undergo an initiation rite, usually requiring the initiate to eliminate three targets in cold blood. After the first rite, they were given the option to contract vampirism from their superiors if desired. before proceeding to basic mandatory training. In addition, all initiates were required to learn a basic healing spell and flames spell for increased survival capability. For non-vampire members, ingestion of a substance called the "Potion of Adaptability" were mandatory. The potion was said to give the drinker the ability to breathe water permanently, but was also lethal to those who fail to accommodate to the physical alteration these mysterious potions gave. Despite the line and nature of their work, Blackhearts were forbidden from performing immoral acts against other members, such as killing each other and even attacking without reason, arguably being similar to the Five Tenets of the Dark Brotherhood. According to Elvali, breaking the unwritten rules were heavily punished. They were also obligated not to attack innocents, more on the concern of attracting unwanted attention to the Blackhearts than slaying those they perceived as weak. Skills and Equipment All Blackhearts possess at least four notable abilities; Transversals, Telekinesis, Detect Dead, and Detect Life the former being used to instantly travel short distances, and the latter used for a variety of tasks, such as telekinetic wards, pulling or pushing targets or objects (including pickpocketing from a distance,) firing concentrated telekinetic bolts or slugs. or even choking a target from afar with telekinesis. The most skilled of telekinesis users were known to directly crush the organs of their targets from within, making them feared opponents against both warriors and mages. The detection spells were used for blowing enemies out of stealth through calculated use. In addition to these, they also utilize bound swords in the form of a Nordic variant of the Steel Sword. They were notably skilled in unarmed combat, with Morgan noting that disarming a Blackheart does not end a battle against one immediately. Surprisingly, they were also known to utilize modified siege weapons summoned like bound weapons. Among these siege weapons were Ballistas, Catapults, Battering Rams, and Trebuchets. Specialized Blackheart mages, called Quartermasters, were used to summon these weapons on the battlefield. The outfits of the Blackhearts were almost always the same. They use Rough Leather Armor as their attire, favored for both protection, light weight, compact carrying capacity, and camouflage in shadowy areas. Their other members which specialized in taking damage wore heavier variants of their standard armor. For physical weapons, they utilized short-swords and backup daggers, usually hidden somewhere in their person. In certain cases, they make use of dangerous poisons to take down any foe of any size, and potions to bolster their already formidable skills. For security purposes for their bases and hidden cells, they utilize Death Hounds in addition to radiant magelights. In many cases, should a Blackheart survive three years in service or climbs the ranks high enough, they are awarded with a custom set of strong hand-made armor. Newly-promoted officers are also handed the same set. History Return of the Septim Dynasty The Blackhearts were active in the shadows during the time of Daric's Rebellion against Augustus Mede. Unknown to both factions, the Blackhearts took advantage of the chaos of war, such as selling weapons to both sides and even providing indirect aid to one another, before gathering their reaped rewards and vanishing in the shadows. It is said by Elvali Ramarys that wars often proved to be one of the most lucrative opportunities for the Blackhearts to engage in their business. Since the end of Daric's Rebellion, the Blackhearts had mostly gone underground, and have not been heard from since aside a small regiment led by Fenrig. A Game of Thrones Even with war breaking out in High Rock, the Blackhearts remained underground. Despite Morgan having minor involvement in the war, he was only supported by very few agents before he and his subordinates also vanished. Later, at their main base of operations at Blackheart Haven, Morgan welcomed the deserter, Matthias Ashfield, as a new member of the Blackhearts, and later employed the large Breton as one of his personal enforcers, effectively replacing the late Fenrig. Pre-A Song of Snow Years after the crisis in High Rock, the Blackhearts had profited from their shadowy endeavors, and continued to build up strength in preparation for the next challenges ahead of them. A some point before the beginning of the Falmer Crisis in Skyrim, Morgan found out of Elvali's success with Jo'Khar in eliminating Fenrig. Despite his annoyance of losing one of his officers, he considered Fenrig's death as a mere petty failure. For her actions Elvali was given a large sum of gold septims, before being ordered to train more recruits for his future plans. A Song of Snow After the crisis in High Rock, the Blackhearts began taking on a more open role, their most notable recent action being an attempt to supposedly assassinate Cristus Lynielle at Fort Kastav during his trek for the city of Winterhold, going so far as to send a large group to carry on the deed. However, both attempts on the boy's life failed. They were later seen again on a much larger scale, attacking the city of Winterhold and killing countless innocents in the process, including the mage Jo'Khar and Jarl Korir, in pursuit of Cristus, but retreated when they saw the boy under the protection of skilled individuals despite doing considerable damage to the city itself. Their third attempt on Cristus involved using Daedric Seducers, but were defeated by the boy and his group. Later, they leave a message for Cristus to receive, along with the severed head of his supposed father after finding out about his true parentage. Resolving to eliminate the Blackhearts for good, Cristus chose to travel forther into north-western Tamriel, where he would eventually meet the Templars of Meridia, and given various tasks along with his group to dismantle the operations of the criminal organization. The conflict soon reached a boiling point where the Blackhearts assaulted the hollow City itself and captured Elaine, to use as a bargaining chip against their primary target; Cristus. Despite their efforts and dispatching of Elaine to awaken Cristus' anger, their gambit backfired when the boy's true power awakened, and rewrote the fates of the Blackhearts towards total annihilation, with Morgan also being killed in the process before Cristus left the Aurbis with Elaine's corpse. Since then, the Blackhearts became completely defunct after their crushing defeat. Locations The Blackhearts have bases in numerous locations of northern Tamriel. Known bases are: *An underground cavern outside of Cheydinhal *Blackheart Haven, a mysterious hidden island somewhere in the Iliac Bay Former base locations: *Musafarooke *Darklight Tower *Autumnwatch Tower Notable Members *Morgan *Elvali Ramarys *Matthias Ashfield *At least 4 unidentified Blackheart generals Former Members *Fenrig *Wulf, One of Fenrig's underlings Trivia *The Blackhearts resemble the Whalers of the Dishonored series to a certain extent. *Their banner is similar to the symbol of the Nobodies of the Kingdom Hearts series. This can be a nod to the state of many high-ranking members of the Blackhearts, whom had their humanity discarded when they contracted vampirism in a psychological sense. *The faction bears some resemblance to the Hutt Cartel and the Exchange criminal organizations of the Old Republic saga (or Legends era) of Star Wars. Category:Factions